The pottery process always starts with the clay and since we like like speckles in our finished products, we use a Cone 6 mid-fire brown clay. After letting the pots dry to a ‘leather hard’, which is where you can pick them up without them changing shape (can take from 1-16 days depending on airflow and type of pot), we trim, smooth and sign the bottoms. Once dried, these pots are placed in our electric kiln where they are slowly fired to 1500 degrees F called a ‘bisque’ fire. This releases gasses and creates a porous clay body similar to terra cotta, were water will slowly drip through.
After the first firing the pots are ready to glaze. We check each piece for sharp edges, cracks and any other damage. Then the bottom of the piece is dipped in hot wax and glazed in a variety of colors and designs. The piece is now ready for the glaze firing, reaching 2300 degrees F. The clay vitrifies, which is where the clay components fuse together and form a durable surface. Our pottery is very durable and can be used in the microwave to heat food up or in the dishwasher to clean them.
Our glazes are 100% free of lead and we measure and mix our glazes to be beautiful, durable and compatible with other glazes and also with the clay body. We hope this helps explain the many steps it takes to make a piece of pottery. If you select one of our pieces, know that it started as a solitary lump of clay. Time and much practice has helped make the design you see and we hope you may have many years of enjoyment with it!
